Handing Down The Torch

Handing Down The Torch

By: Keely Smith

Arguably Youth and Government’s most involved and supportive member is Jordan Clements, a senior delegate from Jack C. Hays High School. Last year Clements was voted in and chosen by more than 500 of his fellow delegates to hold the position of Lieutenant Governor. However, becoming popular among his youth members did not happen overnight. Clements has ‘been participating in Youth and Government since [his] seventh-grade year.” Throughout his six-year involvement in this organization, he has made many accomplishments of both personal and organization-wide value.

He stated “Youth and Government has been a real life-changing experience for me” ultimately resulting in his “love for the organization.” Participating in Youth and Government aided in his development of essential social skills. This pushed him to come out of his shell, something that was harder for him in the past as he was more introverted.

Not only has he learned how to socialize, but also, the concept of campaigning and the power of speech, aspects that are at the heart of YG. Clemens also said, despite popular belief, “I don’t want to be a career politician,” but rather an “economics professor and get my PhD.” He went on to say that he then plans on becoming a state representative, work his way up to governor, and then go from there.

Although he is excited to see what the near future holds for him, he is sad to see his time come to an end here at Youth and Government. He described having to hand down the torch of Lieutenant Governor to someone new as “a little scary because most of the candidates are from the judicial branch this year,” as opposed to last year, most people being from legislative.

On a lighter note, Clements said he “will need to find a new handle for [his] twitter, which will be hard because all of the good ones are taken.” This poses a concern for him because of his hard work and dedication to his position, and he hates to lose the title.

Knowing that someone will be taking over Lieutenant Governor within the next two days, Clements gave some final words of advice from his year spent in office. The first thing that jumped to mind was “to have as much fun as possible.” He went on to say “The reason why people called me the LIT gov. was because I had fun with it.”

Concluding his time at this year’s conference, Clements shared his most memorable experience as Lieutenant Governor. Stating his most memorable experience was at “the Oklahoma Conference” where he got to create new relationships, debate topics like the Oklahoma state song, and become closer with his fellow officers. He went as far as saying that officers “Noell and Asha are two of [his] closest friends now.